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Spider-Man: The New Animated Series
| runtime = 22 minutes | theme_music_composer = | composer = | company = | distributor = Sony Pictures Television | creator = | based_on = | developer = Brian Michael Bendis Morgan Gendel Marsha Griffin | voices = | executive_producer = | producer = Marsha Griffin | narrated = Neil Patrick Harris | country = | language = English | network = MTV | first_aired = | last_aired = | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 13 | list_episodes = Spider-Man: The New Animated Series#Episodes | preceded_by = ''Spider-Man Unlimited | followed_by = The Spectacular Spider-Man | website = http://www.mtv.com/onair/spider-man }} Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (also known as MTV Spider-Man) is an American-Canadian animated television series based on the Marvel comic book superhero character Spider-Man. The show was made using computer generated imagery (CGI) rendered in cel shading. It ran for only one season of 13 episodes, premiering on July 11, 2003, and was broadcast on MTV and YTV. As of October 13, 2018, Viceland picked up the series for syndication, making it the first time the series has been aired on television in fifteen years. Series overview The story follows the events of the first ''Spider-Man'' film. Norman Osborn is dead. Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, and Harry Osborn attend Empire State University. Peter and Mary Jane try to establish a relationship without success. Peter's superhero duties, and later his involvement with Indira Daimonji, interfere with his romance with Mary Jane. Harry craves revenge on Spider-Man, whom he blames for the death of his father. Peter faces an assortment of other villains including the Lizard, Kraven the Hunter and Electro while trying to maintain a job and his studies. He faces two psychic twins that ruin everything in the wallcrawler's life, causing Peter to give up being Spider-Man and try to live a normal life. Cast and characters Main characters * Neil Patrick Harris provided the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, a superhero, an Empire State University student and photographer for the Daily Bugle. Peter confronts with the desire to use his incredible, spider bite-derived powers to do good, he finds it hard balancing his responsibilities of being a superhero with schoolwork and his romance with Mary Jane Watson. * Lisa Loeb provided the voice of Mary Jane Watson, a student at Empire State University and model/actress. She is the on-and-off girlfriend of Peter Parker, but also seems to still hold some affection for Peter's alter-ego, Spider-Man. * Ian Ziering provided the voice of Harry Osborn, the son of the late industrialist Norman Osborn. He attends Empire State University along with his friends Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Ironically, he blames Spider-Man for his father's death and seeks revenge, oblivious to the fact that his best friend Peter is Spider-Man; however, as the series progresses, Harry has shown to warm up to him, as well as helping him defeat Electro and being rescued from the Lizard. Recurring characters * Angelle Brooks provided the voice of Indira "Indy" Daimonji. An amalgamation of Gwen Stacy and Betty Brant, she is designed as a single character only for the series. Introduced in "Tight Squeeze", she is often described as a foil for Mary Jane and Peter's romantic interest at the Empire One Television Studio. The character showed an intense, flamboyant, and unabashed affection for Peter Parker, pursuing him publicly to MJ's consternation. * Keith Carradine provided the voice of J. Jonah Jameson, the Daily Bugle newspaper publisher. Consistent with his appearances in the comics and films, Jameson spent most of his appearances berating Spider-Man and adding political spin to his activities, usually in front of Peter Parker. Jameson is so passionate about this that he even appears on a competitor's news broadcast to denounce Spider-Man. Guest characters * Stan Lee provided the voice of Frank Elson in the penultimate episode "Mind Games". His character appeared for one scene in the next episode but did not have any dialogue, except grunts. * Rob Zombie provided the voice of Dr. Curt Connors/Lizard in the third episode "Law of the Jungle". * Eve provided the voice of Cheyenne/Talon, a villain possibly based on Black Cat in "Keeping Secrets". * Kathy Griffin provided the voice of Roxanne Gaines in the finale "Mind Games" (Parts 1 and 2). * Jeremy Piven provided the voice of Roland Gaines in the finale "Mind Games" (Parts 1 and 2). * Michael Dorn provided the voice of Kraven the Hunter in "Mind Games" (Parts 1 and 2). * Michael Clarke Duncan provided the voice of Kingpin in "Royal Scam". Duncan previously played the character in the Daredevil film. * Keith David provided the voice of FBI Agent Mosely in "Royal Scam". * Jeffrey Combs provided the voice of Dr. Zellner in "Flash Memory". * Clancy Brown provided the voice of Raymond (Richard Daimian's bodyguard) in "Sword of Shikata". * Virginia Madsen provided the voice of Silver Sable in the episodes "Spider-Man Dis-Sabled" and "Mind Games" (Part 1). * James Marsters provided the voice of Sergei, the leader of a high-tech gang of mercenaries called Pterodax in "Tight Squeeze" and "Mind Games" (Part 1). * Harold Perrineau Jr. provided the voice of Turbo Jet, a villain possibly based on Rocket Racer or Blue Streak in "Heroes and Villains". * Edward Asner (the voice of J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Uncle Ben in The Spectacular Spider-Man) provided the voice of Officer Bar in the episodes "Heroes and Villains", "Sword of Shikata", "Law of the Jungle" and "Mind Games" (Part 2). * Gina Gershon provided the voice of the ronin Shikata in "Sword of Shikata". * John C. McGinley provided the voice of Richard Daimian in the episode "Sword of Shikata". * Ethan Embry provided the voice of Max Dillon/Electro in "Head Over Heels", "The Party" and "When Sparks Fly". * Devon Sawa provided the voice of Flash Thompson in "Flash Memory". * Tara Strong provided the voice of Christina in "Head Over Heels". * Cree Summer provided the voice of Professor Williams in "The Party" and "When Sparks Fly". Production Development Spider-Man: The New Animated Series was initially supposed to be an adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. However, after the success of Spider-Man, the show was reworked to follow that continuity. The series was produced by Brian Michael Bendis, who wrote on Ultimate Spider-Man comics, for Sony Pictures Television, who had purchased the film and television rights to the character. The computer-generated imagery (CGI) was produced by Mainframe Entertainment.Mainframe Animates New Spider-Man TV Series Peter Parker was originally supposed to wear baggier clothes to hide his superhero musculature, but cost-effective difficulties with the CG format prevented folds from being put into his everyday attire. As a result, Peter's street clothes were redesigned to be close-fitting and contemporary, while still managing to hide his physique (and the costume he wore under his clothes) as Spider-Man. The character of Aunt May was not included in the series (except for a photograph in Peter's bedroom), because MTV executives feared that the appearance of any elderly people would deter their target youth audience from watching. The producers found that the more relaxed standards of MTV allowed them more creative freedom than usually allowed for a Saturday morning cartoon show. Cancellation MTV decided that the ratings for the series were insufficient to warrant a second season, leaving the series to end on a cliffhanger. Director Brandon Vietti stated that had the series gone on he would have used the villains Mysterio, Vulture, and more of Kraven. Episodes Due to various production delays, the episodes aired out of the correct scripted order. This caused some confusion with audiences regarding the chronology of the series. For example, "The Party" originally aired after its sequel "When Sparks Fly". The DVD releases feature the episodes in the correct order. Each episode has a montage at the end of which states "Next Time On Spider-Man" Reception The series received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences, with praise aimed at the voice acting, the considerably mature, darker and adult-oriented tone, writing and direction compared to other animated Spider-Man adaptations, the series' potential, quality CGI animation, techno/synthwave-influenced soundtrack, the darker re-imagining and modifications to classic Spider-Man villains (E.G-The Lizard and Electro) and the unique and refreshing take on the Spider-Man mythos, though the abrupt cliffhanger ending and divergence from the later Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man films received criticism from fans. In 2004, the series was nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production while "Keeping Secrets" got a nomination in Outstanding Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production. Home video The complete series was released on DVD as Spider-Man: The New Animated Series: Special Edition on January 13, 2004. Four separate DVD volumes containing three episodes each were also released from 2004 to 2005. The entire series was licensed by Marvel and Sony to DigiKids/Sentimental Journeys, who re-edited the footage from many episodes into one feature, which is sold as a personalized DVD in which the purchaser's face is revealed under Spider-Man's mask. References External links * * * Spider-Man: The New Animated Series @ Marvel Animation Age Category:2000s American animated television series Category:2000s Canadian animated television series Category:2003 American television series debuts Category:2003 American television series endings Category:2003 Canadian television series debuts Category:2003 Canadian television series endings Category:American children's animated action television series Category:American children's animated adventure television series Category:American children's animated superhero television series Category:Animated television series based on Marvel Comics Category:American drama television series Category:Canadian children's animated action television series Category:Canadian children's animated adventure television series Category:Canadian children's animated superhero television series Category:Canadian drama television series Category:American computer-animated television series Category:Canadian computer-animated television series Category:MTV cartoons Category:Shapeshifting in fiction Category:Animated Spider-Man television series Category:Television programs based on films Category:Television programs based on Marvel Comics Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television Category:Television shows set in New York City Category:Television series based on works by Brian Michael Bendis Category:Television series by Adelaide Productions Category:Television series by Rainmaker Studios Category:Spider-Man (2002 film series) Category:Computer-animated television series